Securing device



A. A. TIRRILL;

SECURING DEVICE.

APPLICATION- FILED APR. 20, I920.

Patented Jan. 17,1922.

FIG.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALLEN A. TIBRILL, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE CLAMEBTMANUFACTURING COMPANY, 01 PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION ornmawm SECURING DEVICE- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1'7, 1922.

Application filed April 20, 1920. Serial No. 375,330.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, -ALLEN A. TIRRILL, a

citizen of the United States, and resident of Pittsburgh, in the countyof Allegheny 5 and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in a Securing Device, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to a securing device, and is particularlydesigned foruse as a holder for automobile license plates and the like.

As a holder for automobile license plates the device constitutes animprovement over that shown and described in the patent to George W.Emmert, No. 1,340,387, dated May 18, 1920. I

he present invention has as one object, the provision of an attachingdevice which will hold a license plate or similar article firmly butwithout too great a degree of rigidity; and further to provide a devicewhich will secure the plate to a bracket having orifices of any sha etherein, and which cannot be accldenta ly jarred loose or into anyposition which might cause the plate to be loosened or disengaged fromthe bracket,

Further objects of the invention are to provide an attaching device inwhich a shaft is attached to a barrel interiorly thereof, thus avoidingthe extension of the shaft beyond the head of the barrel and the use ofa rivet head or other externally applied means for, securing it thereto.This renders I the device more sightly and leaves no joints for theentry of water and consequent rusting of the parts.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a shank andbarrelconstruction and method of makin the same, such construction andmethod being applicable to any device in which a metallic shank issecured to a metallic barrel. 7

In the accompanying drawings Fig. .1. is an elevation illustrating anautomobile license plate held in position by the device of the presentinvention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the locking member of the device;Fig. 3. is a central longitudinal section throu h the device, on anenlarged scale for clear illustration of certain structural details ofthe device; Fig. 4 is a plan view of a modified form of connectingplate; and Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a stepin the construction of the device,

The attaching-device comprises primarily a caslng or barrel 1, a secondcasing or barrel 2 te escoping within the barrel 1, a shank 3 ri idlysecured within barrel 1 and extendlng through the head of barrel 2, acoiled spring 4, surrounding the shank 3 and bearing against the innersurface of the head of each of the barrels, and a locking member 5arranged to engage with the,

shank 3.

The shank 3 is rigidly secured at one extremity to the head of thebarrel 1 by means to be hereinafter described, and has at its otherextremity a locking head'6, which is of moderate size and which isdisposed beyond the head of barrel 2. The locking member 5 is providedwith a slot 7 arranged to permit the member to be slipped onto the shank3, and a countersunk seat 8 arranged to receive the head. 6 of theshank.

In applying the attaching device to secure a license plate to a bracket,pressure is applied to the head of barrel 1 so that it slides overbarrel 2, and compresses the spring 4;. The shank 3 is thus caused toproject beyond the head of barrel 2 and may be inserted through the slotor other orifice in plate 9 and through the bolt hole or other orificein bracket 10 to project a suitable distance beyond the latter. Thelocking member 5 is then slipped over the shank 3 so that thecountersunk seat 8 is in line with the locking head 6 of the shank. Bymerely releasing the pressure on the barrel 1, the tension of coiledspring 4 will tend to force the barrels 1 and 2 apart as far as thelength of the shank 3 will permit. The plate andbracket are thus heldsecurely between the head of barrel 2 and locking member 5 with thelocking head 6 secured in position by the countersunk seat 8.

Because of the relatively small size of the locking head 6 of the shank,it can be introduced through either slots or bolt holes in the licenseplate and bracket; it being necessary to have merely a small re 'steringspace between the two apertures. ecause, moreover, of the size and shapeof locking member 5, it will hold the license plate se curely in placewhether bolt holes or slots be rovided in the bracket.

he device is so designed that it may be used to secure license plates,advertising signs or the like, to supporting means having t ereinapertures of varying form; and by mere] increasing the size of thelocking mem r, may be where such .apertures are of any desired size. l

The device in so far as described above corresponds to the devicedescribed an claimed in the. above noted patent George W. Emmett. Thenovelty of the present invention resides in the means .for and method ofsecuring the shank 3 to the body 1. This is so effected that the shankand its securing means may be formed as a unitary structure, and assuch, introduced into the barrel of the device.

The securin member or plate 11 is secured to the s ank 3 by means of arivet head 12 onthe shank 3. This plate 11' is preferably composed ofmetal harder than that of which the barrel is made, and is thinner thanthe walls of the barrel.

The plate is dished with its convex face'outward at the end of the shank3. The plate 11 with shank 3, and the coiled spring '6 surrounding theshank, is then introduced.

into barrel 1 until the convexflface of the plate 11 rests against theinner surface of the head of the barrel. j With the convex face of plate11 in such position, the tubular member, or barrel, 2 is forceddownwardly, as by means of a foot press, so that it bears upon thedished plate 11 adjacent itsperiphery, (as shown in Fig. 5 of thedrawin'gs) straightening it out into the fiat plate shown in igr3 'ofthe drawin In this manner, the partsuare assembleg at one. operation toform the completed device.

As plate-11 is straightened out, it will bite slightl into the metal ofbarrel 1 to firmly anc or the shank 3 in the barrel.

This engagement is shown at 13 in Fig. 3 of the drawings. In drawing abarrel, a slightl expanded portion 14 is normall forme adjacent to thehead of the barre The diameter of plate 11 musttherefore, be such thatit is of proper size to engage in this expanded portion whenstraightened out. 1 If the barrel 1 be formed by a method which willcause it tobe, of uniform diameter throughout, it is obvious thatthe'true diameter of the plate should be made slightly greater than thediameter of the barrel in order to secure this biting engage ment.

Where t-ie shank and-the barrel construct1on 1s em loyedin connectionwith a device other than the securin device described above, anysuitable tub ar member ma be ressed down upon the plate 11 to straig tenit out and to cause it to bite into the metal.

of thebarrel to. which .the shank is to be secured. a The modified formof retaining plate llustrated inFig. 4 of the drawingsis proameter ofthe notches 14, whic permit the plate to be more readily straightenedout from the dished form in which it is introduced into the barrel intothe flat form in which it en therewith. This permits the plate 1 .11 tobe' made'of greater thicknessthan devices other than a licenseplateholder.

It is particularly desirable in any device in.

which a movable plunger or follower is arranged to slide upon a fixedshank orshaft,

vided on its periphery with a plurality of within a casing whichsurrounds the shaft for any portion of its length.

The means for securing a shank in a bar'- rel permits all the arts to befinished before the assembly 0 any of them; since the assemblingoperation is such that the finish of none ofthe parts can be marred.This causes a great reduction in the work necessary for finishing theparts, and also provides a piece of'work which is ofv higher class thanwould be possible were the parts finished and assembled b any previousmethod, or finished after t eir assembly.

A number of further advantages and practical application of theconstruction of the present invention will occur to those skilled in theart to pertains.

What I claim is: 1. A shank and barrel construction comprisin a metallicbarrel, a shank, and a metallic retaining late on 'said'shank arrangedto enter an engage in said barrel; said-plate when engaged .being of adiameter greater than the interior diameter of the portion of the barrelin which it engages, I. v

2. A shank and barrel construction comprising a metallic barrel, ashank, and a notched metallic retaining plate on said shank and arrangedto enter andengage in said barrel; said plate when engagedbeing of adiameter greater than the interior diportion of the-barrel in whichwhich the invention apis e ges.

3. e method of securing a shank to a barrel which consists in securin tothe shank adished metallic plate having when flata diameter greater thanthe interior diameter of the portion of the barrel in which it engages,introducing said plate and shank into the barrel and exerting pressureupon said plateto straighten the same and cause its periphery to biteinto. the barrel wall.

'4. The method of securing ashank to a' barrel which consists in securinto the shank adished metallic plate havmgwhen flat a diameter greaterthan the interior di-' ameter of. the portion of the barrel in which itengages, introducing said plate and shank into the barrel, and forcing atubular member upon said plate adjacent its periphery to straighten theplate and cause it to bite into the barrel wall.

5. A securing device comprising a pair of telescoping barrels, a headedshank arranged to extend beyond the head of one of said barrels, acoiled spring surrounding said shank andbearing against the heads ofsaid barrels, a metallic plate on said shank arranged to bite into theWall of the other of said barrels, and a locking member arranged toengage on said shank.

6. A securing device comprising a pair of telescoping barrels, a headedshank arranged to extend beyond the head of one of said barrels, acoiled spring surrounding said shank and bearing against the heads ofsaid barrels, a metallic retaining plate on said shank of greaterdiameter than the porhand.

tion of the barrel in which it engages and arranged to bite, into thewall of the other of said barrels, and a locking member arranged toengage on said shank.

7. A securing device" comprising a pair of telescoping metallic barrels,a headed shank arranged to extend beyond the head of one of saidbarrels, a coiled spring surrounding said shank and bearing against theheads of said barrels, a notched. metallic retaining plate on said shankand arranged to engage in the other of said barrels, said plate being ofmetal harder than the barrel wall and of greater diameter than the por-'tion of the barrel in which it engages, and a locking member on saidshank.

In witness whereof, I hereunto set my ALLEN A. TIRRILL.

Witnesses:

J. M. HOLLIDAY, E. A. BE0KER.-

